Eagles

Colts Writer Says Team Leaders Were “Finished with the Carson Wentz Experiment” Before Season Ended

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 10th, 2022 · 9:51 AM EST

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Carson Wentz was traded to the Washington Commanders on Wednesday.

At The Athletic, Zak Keefer wrote a story called Inside the Colts’ decision to move on from Carson Wentz after just one season. Every Eagles fan was sharing it on Twitter. There’s honestly not a lot in here that Birds fans would find amazing or unique, but I’ll share a couple of relevant passages:

Truth be told, some inside the Indianapolis Colts’ West 56th Street facility were finished with the Carson Wentz experiment long before the team’s late-season collapse, according to several recent conversations with sources inside the organization. Consecutive losses to Las Vegas and Jacksonville in Weeks 17 and 18 — punctuated by poor play from the starting quarterback — cost the team a 97 percent shot at the playoffs and led to owner Jim Irsay calling it “an epic shortfall that stunned and shocked and appalled us all.”

For some context here, the Colts won six of seven going into Week 17. They ripped off three straight against Houston, New England, and Arizona, two of those games taking place on the road. Carson was really good against Arizona but didn’t have to do much in the other two games, which were run-heavy/game manager type of performances.

The funny thing is that Irsay seemed to be high on the team when they improved to 9-6 at that point:

#Colts owner Jim Irsay postgame @WISH_TV in Arizona — “This year, THE magic could be there.” pic.twitter.com/j1XJkKV9DV

— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) December 26, 2021

 

More from Keefer:

As for the Colts, the issues with Wentz stretched back to before the season began, one source said, and over the course of the year, some grew frustrated at what they deemed a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play, which had a role in several close losses this year.

But this wasn’t just a football move. Wentz’s play, inconsistent as it was to close the year, wasn’t the deciding factor. Colts brass simply didn’t trust him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward, and they weren’t willing to bring him back in 2022 and hope for better. Thus, the decision was made swiftly after the Week 18 debacle in Jacksonville: Wentz wouldn’t return for a second season in Indianapolis.

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What was missing, some within the team believe, was the type of direction the Colts got from the quarterback position in recent years, namely with Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers and even Jacoby Brissett, who despite struggling late in the 2019 season remained a deeply respected voice within the locker room.

This pretty much matches up with what was reported by various folks in Philly. Santoliquito, McLane, etc. The storyline was about Frank Reich taking on Carson, knowing these issues, and then trying to “fix him,” per se. Obviously that didn’t happen, because the things you’re reading about Wentz now are what you were reading last year and the year prior.

I always go back to that Chris Long and Malcolm Jenkins podcast for the best Wentz take. Everybody I talk to says Carson is just kind of a funky dude with a funky personality, but Long and Jenkins said he’s not a locker room cancer. They basically admitted that Wentz just did a shitty job going around to the locker room and ingratiating himself with the entirety of the team. That’s where the distinction should be drawn. People behind the scenes say he’s not an asshole, he’s just kind of dud. Doesn’t have winner/leader DNA.

Keefer:

Money was never the primary factor in the decision to move on from him, nor was the unenviable reality the team now finds itself in: looking for a new starting quarterback for the third straight offseason. Reich, who originally pushed for the trade to acquire Wentz last winter, apologized to Irsay after the season, according to a source. The coach believed he could resurrect Wentz’s stalled career and solve the Colts’ quarterback conundrum.

“I stuck my neck out for him last year,” Reich admitted earlier this month.

You go back through all of this and wonder how much the vaccination thing played a role. No writer came out and said it explicitly, but reading between the lines, it seems like the Colts were miffed with Carson’s decision to not get the COVID vax.

It’s pretty crazy that Indy was able to expunge this mistake without getting hammered too hard. Yeah, they gave those picks to Howie Roseman, but they got Wentz’s salary off the books and pulled some assets back from Washington.

As for Carson, he was basically the 2019 version of himself last year. 27 touchdowns, seven picks, eight fumbles, which was actually a low number compared to past seasons. The Colts didn’t have amazing receivers outside of perhaps Michael Pittman Jr., and I could honestly see Terry McLaurin being the best weapon Carson has had in a few seasons. Who else is there? 2017 Alshon Jeffery? Zach Ertz? An aging T.Y. Hilton? McLaurin is probably going to be Carson’s best receiver, ever.

Anyway, that’s enough on Wentz for now.